JTech780

Watched the game in Calgary, here are my thoughts: Lucic: he played alright, used his size well, his skating was better than advertised. All in all he wasn't as terrible as Oilers fans like to say he is. Smith-Pelley: he used his size well, threw some hits, wasn't super noticeable, but was effective for his role. Rinaldo: his skating surprised me, much better than I thought. Threw some good hits. MacDonald: really steady, skates well and moved the puck well. Easily the best of the PTO's. Gawdin: really responsible player, thinks the game well, works hard. Hamilton: skates well, moves the puck well. Can see him earning an NHL contract with a good start to his season in Stockton. Pelletier: good compete, good skill, good skater, and thinks the game really well. Might be closer to the NHL than I thought, not this season, but maybe as early as next season. Talbot: terrible start to his Flames career, that being said I put very little stock in goaltending performances in the preseason, especially for NHL regulars. The rest of the regulars played as expected.

Positive. He requires waivers based on his age, and the fact he was on the roster for more than 30 days.

For example:

He needs to clear waivers to go the AHL, there's no way he is starting the year in Stockton.

Signing Matthews and Marner to their deals isn't the issue with the Leafs, it was signing Tavares when they already had a 1st line center. That's the money that should be going to their defense.

He didn't take a pay cut for the betterment of the team, he took the only contract offer he was going to get. Much different situation than Tkachuk.

A bridge deal might be the way to go, but if Tkachuk is a $8-9m player now on a long term deal, he is probably a $10-12m player on a long term deal in 3 years.

Mangiapane signed his qualifying offer.

MacDonald's strength has always been his mobility, so I wouldn't say that it is suspect. I mean Kylington is the better skater, but Kylington is a better skater than most of the NHL. Kylington looked fine last season, but let's be honest he wasn't put in situations where he was seeing real NHL talent, he was given largely offensive zone starts against other teams 4th lines, while playing under 13mins a night. MacDonald gives us more depth and puts Kylington back to being an injury call up, which is where he belongs right now. With Kylington on the team you have one guy that you can't give a regular shift too, and that puts extra stress on the rest of the defense.

Is Dube the place holder for Mangiapane or is Czarnik? Edit: I know it's still early, but it sure looks like Rieder and MacDonald are being given more of an opportunity to make this team. Can't say I would mind either one on this team to start the season.

I like Anderson as much as the next guy, but he isn't half as good as Tkachuk and will looking for similar money to Tom Wilson, potentially more if he has a big year this year. I could easily see him getting north of $6m on his next deal. I just don't see the logic.

I don't hate the idea, in fact I like Kase. The problems I see are two fold. First we don't have anyone to fill Brodie's spot on the Blueline, trading Brodie would basically kill our Blueline depth. Secondly the reason the Faulk trade fell through is because he didn't want to sign an extension in Anaheim, so Brodie would have to be willing to sign in Anaheim. I would think that he would want to test the market.

The thing for me is that last season he didn't exactly drive play, he benefited from playing with Gaudreau and Monahan. I don't think he would be anywhere near as impactful centering a different line.